The Research Support Core for the Center for Advancing Care in Serious illness has two units that will provide support to investigators; the biopsychological unit and the biostatistics unit. In its biopsychological unit the faculty and staff will 1) assist with the review and conceptualization of current research that links biological and behavioral measurement to answer nursing questions in our different independently funded studies; 2) assist with decisions about the use of different biological measures as we proceed with the linkage initiative; and 3) plan, have oversight of, or conduct the different laboratory assays necessary to the completion of the biological aspects of our work In its biostatistics unit, the faculty and staff will 1) collaborate with center investigators in the design and analysis of new competitive proposals; 2) assist with the conceptualization and conduct of the integration of the independently funded projects within the center; 3) provide design and analysis assistance for all pilot projects within the center; and 4) assist Center fellows with networking with other experts with specific computer or analytic skills. This core has faculty who ar highly knowledgeable and respectable in their fields and consultants who bring further breadth to the activity of the core. The activity of the individuals in this core during the past four years has eventuated in out continuing successes in generating research proposals. It has led to our small but growing list of publications tha link the biological and psychological aspects of our work. Finally, thi core has provided for the integration of the many projects within the center in the interest of more rapid generation of nursing knowledge upo which practice can be based.